New Recipes

Japchae (Korean Mixed Noodles)

Mr. Rasa Malaysia has a good Korean friend whose mother-in-law, Madam Kim, is a famed Korean chef and restauranteur hailed from Seoul, Korea. Madam Kim has since settled down in Southern California and runs a Korean food catering business. Call us lucky, but we need not go to Korean town, or Korea, to have authentic—and absolutely delicious—Korean food. Whenever Madam Kim has catering orders, we are sure to get her leftover bento boxes of various Korean dishes from her, and one of them is the best Japchae that we have ever tasted.

I will be honest, I like Japchae but most of the Japchae I get at Korean food stores or restaurants are always too salty, greasy, or too sweet. There has never been a good ones that I really enjoyed, except Madam Kim’s. Her Japchae is loaded with lots of goodies: slices of beef bulgogi, fresh and crunchy wood ear mushrooms, slivers of Korean fish cakes, spinach, carrot, and the perfect balance of taste. I am always so happy when Mr. Rasa Malaysia comes home with bento boxes of Japchae.

If you are not familiar with Japchae, it’s a Korean noodle dish with mixed vegetables. The noodles are chewy, starchy, and made from sweet potatoes. The noodles are sometimes called glass noodles but they are broader and slightly darker in color. Making Japchae is quite a process as traditionally, each ingredient is cooked separately and then all mixed together by hand with the noodles and the sauce. It does take a while to make it the proper way. In my Japchae recipe, I am going to teach you an easier way to make this amazing Korean mixed noodles so you can practically have bowls of Japchae in less than 30 minutes, without sacrificing authenticity and good taste. My japchae recipe closely mimics the taste of Madam Kim’s version. Instead of soy sauce and sugar, I used Mizkan Oigatsuo Tsuyu Bonito Flavored Soup Base (green label with no MSG) and Mizkan Honteri Mirin to bring out the savory and sweet flavors of this dish. As Mizkan Oigatsuo Tsuyu Bonito Flavored Soup Base is made from soy sauce and bonito flavoring, it adds the umami taste to Japchae and makes it even tastier. Mizkan Honteri Mirin is a sweet cooking wine and lends a tint of sweetness to the overall flavor. Also, instead of cooking every ingredient individually and then mix with the noodles, I stir-fry the ingredients together and then combine them with the cooked noodles. Instead of using hands, I use a pair of chopsticks to mix everything together. There is no messy kitchen, greasy hands, but quick and easy way to make a popular Korean recipe.

I love how easy this recipe is. I followed instructions to a tee (very rare) for a dinner side when i had no starch one night. I ended up with an easy fried egg on top and it was delicious! I will definitely make again.